(Yicai) Oct. 26 -- China’s securities regulator said it has approved the establishment of Citi Securities China by US investment bank Citigroup, adding to the number of wholly foreign-owned securities companies in the country.

Citi China will be registered in Shanghai with a registered capital of CNY1.2 billion (USD178.6 million), according to the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The unit’s business scope covers securities brokerage, securities investment consulting, securities underwriting and sponsorship, and securities proprietary trading, with the firm fully owned by Citi Global Financial Holdings.

Citi has been developing its business in China for many years, establishing an investment banking joint venture with domestic brokerage Orient Securities in 2011. Citi Asia owned 33.3 percent of the JV but sold its entire share to its partner in 2019.

At the end of 2021, Citi Global submitted an application to the CSRC to set up a wholly-owned securities unit. After supplementing and revising required materials, the regulator accepted the application at the end of 2023.

In February 2024, the CSRC required Citi Global to submit updated long-term credit ratings and outlooks for the past three years, as well as its global rankings over the past three years related to its securities brokerage, securities investment consulting, and securities underwriting and sponsorship businesses.

As China continues to open up its capital market, several foreign brokerages have obtained regulatory approval to open securities subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland. JPMorgan took the lead in August 2021, converting its local securities JV into a wholly foreign-owned unit, while Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, UBS Group, Mizuho Financial Group, and others have since received approval to set up new wholly-owned subsidiaries or convert JVs into such entities.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev